DETROIT -- The Detroit City Council today passed a pair of city ordinances — despite considerable public opposition — to advance a project for a new Red Wings arena near downtown.

However, the council put off until February voting on a third measure that would allow the transfer of city-owned land for the project. Council members said that by delaying acting on that measure it could leverage its pending approval to ensure the project proceeds to its satisfaction and to give the public more chances to have input.

The postponement means the project will come back next year before a significantly different group of council members. Five new members will take office in January.

The council did, however, agree to expand the Downtown Development Authority's boundaries to include the arena project site. It also voted to amend the DDA's tax increment financing plan to accommodate the project.

Several residents could not get into the meeting when it started at 9 a.m. at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Building and were waiting in line. City Council President Saunteel Jenkins typically ensures that everyone gets an opportunity to address the council on a subject the body is considering.

"We all want this to happen," Jenkins said. "It's our job to make sure Detroiters are a part of that."

The $450-million arena will be paid for with a mix of public and private money.

The DDA's board approved an agreement last week for Olympia Development of Michigan — one of Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch's companies — to operate the new arena.

The agreement, which allows Olympia to use the arena for up to 95 years, is a giveaway, said Jerry Belanger, who owns buildings that house Cliff Bell's jazz club and Bucharest Grill.

"This isn't just a single win for" Ilitch, Belanger said. "It's a win for him for the next 100 years."

Although he doesn't expect opponents of the project to sway the council, Belanger said he has spoken with attorneys about filing a lawsuit on behalf of various business owners to halt the project.

"There could be several aspects of this contract that could be challenged as unconstitutional," he said.

Bill McMaster, chairman of the Taxpayers United Michigan Foundation, attended a Thursday meeting at the Bucharest Grill and said the arena proposal violates the Headlee Amendment, approved by voters in 1978, which limits the amount of money the state spends every year.

The Michigan Strategic Fund, a state economic development organization, has agreed to issue $450 million in bonds to build the arena on the west side of Woodward just north of where I-75 crosses the northern edge of downtown.

To pay off the bonds over 30 years, the Detroit DDA has committed to pay at least $12.8 million a year from its tax increment financing revenues and about an additional $2 million annually from other tax increment revenues. Olympia Development of Michigan will pay $11.5 million a year until the bonds are paid off. No money from the city's general fund will be used for the project, and Olympia will have naming rights for the new arena and will keep all revenues from the arena operations.

The arena, coupled with a planned, $200-million mixed-use development, is expected to create about 500 new jobs and about 8,300 construction jobs.